According to McKinsey Global Institute by 2030 almost 54 million people will have to look for new jobs due to technology

According to the McKinsey Global Institute by 2030 almost 54 million people in the US willhave to look for new jobs because of technological innovation. The technical term used by experts to describe this phenomenon is the “obsolescence of skills”. In short, the skills required by the job market or by businesses change suddenly and workers are continually forced to try and keep pace. A scenario that is beginning to take shape now that the effects of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 are also becoming evident in our businesses.

The importance of training

The only solution currently available to us is training. How many of us have heard these words uttered during conferences or panels on employment? But leaving aside commercials, this issue is already very topical. We have to start preparing the professionals and businesses of the future today. Work is already underway in Italy: for example, to propose shared solutions the Experis Academy, the ManpowerGroup training centre specialised in the Engineering and IT sectors, has launched a partnership with science park Kilometro Rosso, Confindustria Bergamo and Microsoft. The partnership has a dual goal: to help people requalify on the job market and to help companies find specialist profiles. A reskilling and upskilling strategy which will take the tangible form of the three Master’s courses that were presented at a press conference on 19 March at the Bergamo hub.

More specifically, the courses, due to begin at the end of March, will be dedicated to CyberSecurity, Big Data Analytics and Oracle Certified Java Architect. «Slowing down the speed of technological progress and globalisation is a difficult task – explained Stefano Scabbio, President of the Mediterranean, Northern and Eastern Europe Area at ManpowerGroup -. However, we can and we must act immediately to identify the skills that need developing and reshaping so that we have workers who are prepared for the future. The ambition with this project, which we share with our numerous partners on the national and international business panorama, is to construct an ecosystem in which people remain the focal point».

Companies to the fore

We aren’t merely talking about theoretical training but an initiative that involves research in thefield, teaching and career guidance. «The investment phase – explains Chairman of KilometroRosso and Brembo Alberto Bombassei – must now be followed by the training phase. Located in this leading district, it is our duty to take the first steps. Developing suitable knowhow is crucial for everyone: for Italy it is a momentous challenge because our permanence at the top table of global manufacturing is on the line».

Yumi

Through practical workshops, giants such as ABB, Avanade, Brembo, Dallara Automobili, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Hitachi Italy, Microsoft and Oracle will be speaking to those attending the courses. «Our experience – explains Andrea Pontremoli, CEO and ManagingDirector of Dallara Automobili – in a low-employment area has become a successful casestudy that we are seeking to replicate in other areas of Europe. The model taps into the valuethat exists in Italy with the aim of developing a system». Just as enthusiastic is Alessio Radice, head of HR in Italy for ABB, a company which alsobrought Yumi to Kilometro Rosso, a 2-armed co-robot that can assemble small componentsand sign documents just like a human being. Although robotics is crucial for ABB, the managerunderlined the importance of technical experts. «We are looking for people that can work onthe machine or that are able to manage large amounts of data, but not necessarily engineers. To give you an idea of just how important these profiles are, out of 300 open positions in Italy30-40% are connected with industry 4.0». The challenge will therefore be to see if we really can create new training approaches and if, at the end of the Master’s, we really will have indispensable “technology-proof” workers.